Clasp members



Aug. 24, 1954 E M HAwlE 2,686,949

/ CLASP MEMBERS Filed Jan. 11, 1952 INVENTOR Patented Aug. 24, 1954 CLASP MEMBERS Edward M. Hawie, Stratford, Conn., assignor to The Hawie Manufacturing Company, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application January 11, 1952, Serial No. 265,955

(C1. Z a-248) 2 Claims.

1 This invention relates to a clasp and more particularly to a clasp or clamp with which one end of a piece of material, strap or the like may be firmly and easily secured in place.

In connection with various types of garments and articles of personal wear, a strap or other free end is provided by which the article may be secured in place, usually to some other part of the clothing. It is, of course, desirable that the loose end or strap be firmly anchored so that when tension is applied to the strap, the end will not be permitted to slip but will be held firmly in place.

It is also desirable in connection with a device of this kind that the strap or loose end of the member to be secured in place may be readily attached to the clamp without undue inconvenience, and that while a pull or tension upon the member in one direction shall be firmly resisted, it is advantageous that the arrangement be such that the member may be moved in the opposite direction for purposes of adjustment.

In the present invention these results are achieved by providing a pair of pivoted members adapted to be secured to a garment or some part of the clothing of the wearer, these members being adapted to lie in a superposed position in which the openings, one provided in each memher, are in registration for reception of a strap or the loose end of a piece of material, this member also being threaded through an opening provided between the body portions of the two parts of the clasp so that when tension is applied to the strap or other member, the pivoted portions will be urged apart and the end of the strap or other member will be clamped between the edges of the opening through which it has been threaded.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved clasp or clamp member which will firmly secure the end of a strap or other member when tension is applied thereto.

.Another object of the invention is to provide a clasp member which will firmly grip the end of a strap or other piece of material and, when tension is applied thereto, is so arranged that the gripping action will be increased so that there will be no slippage of the gripped member.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a clamp or clasp member comprising two pivoted parts each having an opening, which openings are adapted to be brought into registration to receive the strap or loose end of a member to be gripped, and the arrangement being such that when tension is applied to the latter member 2 the clamping portions will be urged apart about their pivotal connection so that the member threaded through the openings will be gripped tightly between opposing edges of the openings as the latter will no longer be in registration.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a clasp or clamp member embodying my improvements, the two parts or jaws being shown in open position;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view showing the jaws of the clasp or clamp member in superposed posi tion so that the openings provided in the jaws are in registration;

Fig. 3 is an elevational View of the clasp or clamp member showing the position of the parts when in use and when tension has been applied to the member gripped by the clamp so that the jaws have been moved apart slightly from the position shown in Fig. 2 to grip the member tightly between the clamping edges of the jaws;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an elevational view showing the shape of the two members comprising the clasp.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown in the drawings a clasp or clamp member comprising two portions or jaw members It and l l, these two members being pivoted together at I2 so that one will swingabout this pivot relatively to the other. The member 10 may be considered the base member, and it is provided with a slot or other opening it through which may be passed a strap or the like M to secure the clasp member in place, for example, to secure it to a belt or garment worn by the user of the clasp member.

The member ID is provided with an opening I 5,

which opening may be provided with a relatively shallow beveled countersunk portion I 6, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described. This jaw member is also provided with a recess opening through one edge portion thereof, this recess being bounded by an upper edge ll, an inner edge [8, and a lower inclined or cam-shaped portion [9.

The jaw II is provided with an opening 20 of a size substantially equal to the opening I5 so that when the portions I0 and II are moved about their pivot point l2 to the position shown in Fig. 2, the openings 15 and 20 will lie in registration.

3 At the rear face of the jaw member II a narrow flange portion 2! is provided which may seat slightly within the opening l5 over the beveled portion [6 of the latter opening so that when the parts ar moved in the position shown in Fig. 2, there will be a slight resistance to their displacement. They may, however, be readily displaced by a slight pressure applied thereto, and in order that this pressure may be easily applied, the members It and l l are provided respectively with projecting ears or lugs 23 and 24 so that when the parts are in the position in Fig. 2, the user may place a thumb on one of these lugs and a forefinger on the other and move the jaw members I6 and II apart.

The jaw member H is also provided with a recess opening through the edge thereof which opposes the recess previously described in the jaw member [2. The recess in the member 9 l is also bounded or defined by an upper edge portion 25, an inner edge 2%, and a lower cam-shaped edge 21. The lower ends of both jaw members are substantially circular in shape, as shown at 28 and 29, these portions surrounding the openings !5 and 2G and the lugs 23 and 24 projecting from the circular portions of the jaw members.

As shown in Fig. 2, when the two jaws are in superposed position with the openings and in registration, the recesses formed in the opposing faces of the jawsdefine an opening 30 which is roughly of triangular shape. The lower portions of this opening are defined by the edges 19 and 21 which edges are slightly convex in shape toward the opening and which approach each other at their lower ends. It will be seen that pressure upon the edges i9 and 2! when the jaws are in the position shown in Fig. 2 will, owing to the cam shape of these edges, tend to separate or spread the jaws about their pivotal connection [2 moving them from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 3.

As illustrated in the drawing the device is shown as being used in connection with the support of a sanitary napkin having a body portion 3! and a free end portion 32. When it is desired to secure the end of the napkin to the clasp, the jaws of the latter are opened to the position shown in Fig. l. The end portion of the napkin may then be inserted between the jaws against the edge ll of the jaw l0 so that it will lie in the recesses formed in the opposing edges of the jaws. The latter are then closed tov the position shown in Fig. 2, and it will be seen that the end of the napkin will then lie in the open- I ing 30 with the body portion 3! at the rear of the clasp and the end portion 32 at the front thereof. As shown in Fig. 4:, the end portion 32 may then be threaded through the openings I5 and 20 so that it projects to the rear side of the jaw member it. The parts are now in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

When a pull is applied to the member 3| in the direction of the arrow 33, it will be seen that the portion of the member 3| which passes through the opening 30 will exert a downward pressure on the edges 19 and 21 which will move the jaw members to the position shown in Fig. 3. In this position the end 32 of th member 3| will be clamped between the opposing edges of the openings I5 and 20, as shown in Fig. 3, and will be gripped tightly between these openings so as to prevent slipping of the portion 32. If, however, it is desired to tighten or shorten the portion 3|, this may readily be done by grasping the portion 32 and pulling it through the opening 30 toward the front side of the clasp. In other words, the strap or piece of material which is gripped may be pulled freely in one direction, but when tension is applied to it in the opposite direction, the two jaw members will be caused to grip the end of the member and resist such pull.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A clasp for gripping the end of a piece of material, said clasp comprising a pair of jaw members, means for pivotally connecting said members adjacent one end of each, each of said members being provided with an opening adjacent its other end, said openings being in registration in one position of said members to receive the end of the material, and adapted when spread apart to grip the material between the edge of the opening on one member and the edge of the opening on the other member, said members being provided with complemental recesses at their inner edges to permit the material to be passed between them, the edges of said recesses being cam-shaped to force said members apartupon a pull on the material, and said recesses lying between the pivot point of the members and the openings therein.

2. A clasp for gripping a piece of material, comprising a pair of flat jaw members pivoted together adjacent one end thereof whereby their free ends may be brought into registration or sep arated; an opening adjacent the free end of each jaw member, and the opposing edges of said members being provided with cam-shaped portions which cooperate to form an opening between said members at a point between the pivot point and said first-named openings to receive the material whereby a pull ,on a piece of material between said edges when the openings of the jaw members are in registration will tend to urge the members apart.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 866,053 Ohliger Sept. 1'7, 1907 1,459,265 Saundry June 19, 1923 1,564,382 I Trieman Dec. 8, 1925 

